No matter whether you’ve been working with your answering service for six months or six years, it’s important to review your answering service script now and again to ensure that callers are getting both the best care available and that everything’s still as relevant as it was when you first created it.
After all, your virtual receptionist or customer service representative teams can only go off the scripts they’re given and that’s up to you to keep in check.
Revisiting Your Answering Service Script
When reviewing your answering service script, it’s important to keep current trends and attitudes toward customer service in mind. If you have data to examine, that can lend helpful insights as well, as you continue to revise and improve your telephone presence.
Here are some additional things to consider as you move forward:
- Keep your eye on the prize. It’s common to try to add too much to an answering service script in hopes of giving better service, but often less is more.Don’t leave out all the important details, after all, your callers will be relying on them to determine if they’re speaking to the right people, but do cut out anything that’s unnecessary and doesn’t move the conversation along.
- You don’t want to sound like a recording. Although it’s unlikely a professional customer service representative would read a script letter for letter, you should put some effort into making your operators sound a little more human.Give them a little leeway and a lot of solutions for life’s many problems. It’s hard to be relatable when there are only one or two responses for most inquiries.
- Be polite. Remember that your callers are gifts. Maybe they’re hard-earned gifts, but they’re gifts nonetheless.When they choose to spend their time speaking to your representatives, make sure that they know they’re appreciated. Include lots of “pleases” and “thank yous,” as well as a heap of appreciation, without gushing.
- Ask the right questions. Sometimes it feels like asking more questions gets better results, but it’s really not the quantity that matters as much as the quality.Give your own script a try or run through it with a friend, does it feel like there’s a lot of excessive information being requested? Cut out any questions that can be handled later, especially if you’re focusing on lead capture.
- Saying “good-bye.” Never just say “good-bye.” It might seem like a small thing, but it can be a huge way to improve your first call resolution numbers.Instead of hanging up, ask the caller if there’s anything more you can do for them or point them to your website for self-service. You’d be surprised how many businesses treat “good-bye” as an end, rather than an opportunity to really nail their customer service dismount.
Periodic review of your answering service script can make a big difference in how well your callers respond to your operators. Don’t be afraid to personalize it, this can be a great way to further support your company’s brand image.
